One Leg Down

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string(4786) "Recently I was unfortunate enough to have broken my leg playing football. On the face of it everything seemed to be ok, but as the pain meds wore off and reality set in I began to realise how much my short term future was about to change.
Aside from the normal things that come to mind, like not being able to drive, I found that there were so many other little things which in isolation are insignificant, but when added together are quite a big deal. Without the support of my immediate and extended family there is no way we would have coped. I am now into my 4th week post injury and I am back at work and beginning to be able to resume what is close to a normal life.
While I was at home convalescing I had an awful lot of time to think and something that really resonated with me was how everything in life has its place and we are constantly prioritising our day to day in order of importance, relevance and necessity. It was only when the status quo changed for me that both my family and I had to realign our priorities to accommodate my inability to contribute around the house with domestic chores and duties.
So the key to my family’s survival over the last 4 weeks was to prioritise according to three criteria:

Urgency – When does something need to be done?

Importance – What happens if it is not done?

Control – Getting things done at the most suitable time without external interference.

This is how we planned our weeks – around activities that were urgent, important and that we could control. Everything else was thrown out the window. We focused on things like getting the kids to school, getting them collected. Having food delivered when there was someone there to accept deliveries, cooking meals in advance etc. All basic stuff but when 50% of the parents are out of the picture you would be surprised how it all adds up.
In business we all talk about how busy we are all the time. Busy sending emails, busy shuffling paper, busy having meetings, busy, busy, busy. How many of us actually focus on planning our time around things that are really going to benefit our job?
Do a quick check in your Outlook diary, don’t cheat! Now how many things in your diary this week are urgent, important and are within your control? No, your 10 am coffee meeting with Tom is not urgent or important as Tom sits beside you and he just wants to gossip!
Now there are plenty of bloggers and thought leaders out there talking about timekeeping, poor timekeeping in particular, so I am not going to labour the point. Suffice to say that if you start your day 5 minutes late and you have a plethora of activities, events, meetings in your diary then everything in your diary gets thrown out for the rest of the day and week. If you are someone that has to leave at a specific time to collect your kids, attend night classes, or walk the dog then you know you will have to make that time up and it is gone forever.
Rather than being late for everything, why not try this:

Don’t have unnecessary meetings;

Don’t waste your time on tasks that are not important; and

Don’t lose time waiting on things that are out of your control.

Focus on your role in the organisation. What is expected of you? What are your deliverables? What are the things you need to do to meet those expectations? Shouldn’t your diary reflect those expectations? You need to be able to understand how long it takes you to complete tasks / reports and allocate time accordingly. Also you need to be able to decide which tasks need to happen first and to be able to prioritise accordingly. Many time management courses follow this message and include things like the 4 D’s, Do it, Diarise It, Delegate it, and Dump it.
Now my challenge to you: Take action and do the things that you need to. Diarise less critical tasks but most importantly don’t do things that you can delegate to someone else and definitely dump things that are in no way related to your goals or your role. Success is easily achieved if the focus is there the challenge is maintaining this focus and sharpening it to only include the necessary activities.
It never ceases to amaze me that in times of hardship or adversity we often have that moment of clarity. I am so glad that I am human, if I was a horse with a broken leg I would most likely have been put down by now. Instead I have had this opportunity to reflect and make some changes to my working life to be the most successful business person I can be.
Cox Purtell Recruitment Agency Blog / Sydney / Melbourne / Adelaide

Recently I was unfortunate enough to have broken my leg playing football. On the face of it everything seemed to be ok, but as the pain meds wore off and reality set in I began to realise how much my short term future was about to change.

Aside from the normal things that come to mind, like not being able to drive, I found that there were so many other little things which in isolation are insignificant, but when added together are quite a big deal. Without the support of my immediate and extended family there is no way we would have coped. I am now into my 4th week post injury and I am back at work and beginning to be able to resume what is close to a normal life.

While I was at home convalescing I had an awful lot of time to think and something that really resonated with me was how everything in life has its place and we are constantly prioritising our day to day in order of importance, relevance and necessity. It was only when the status quo changed for me that both my family and I had to realign our priorities to accommodate my inability to contribute around the house with domestic chores and duties.

So the key to my family’s survival over the last 4 weeks was to prioritise according to three criteria:

Urgency – When does something need to be done?

Importance – What happens if it is not done?

Control – Getting things done at the most suitable time without external interference.

This is how we planned our weeks – around activities that were urgent, important and that we could control. Everything else was thrown out the window. We focused on things like getting the kids to school, getting them collected. Having food delivered when there was someone there to accept deliveries, cooking meals in advance etc. All basic stuff but when 50% of the parents are out of the picture you would be surprised how it all adds up.

In business we all talk about how busy we are all the time. Busy sending emails, busy shuffling paper, busy having meetings, busy, busy, busy. How many of us actually focus on planning our time around things that are really going to benefit our job?

Do a quick check in your Outlook diary, don’t cheat! Now how many things in your diary this week are urgent, important and are within your control? No, your 10 am coffee meeting with Tom is not urgent or important as Tom sits beside you and he just wants to gossip!

Now there are plenty of bloggers and thought leaders out there talking about timekeeping, poor timekeeping in particular, so I am not going to labour the point. Suffice to say that if you start your day 5 minutes late and you have a plethora of activities, events, meetings in your diary then everything in your diary gets thrown out for the rest of the day and week. If you are someone that has to leave at a specific time to collect your kids, attend night classes, or walk the dog then you know you will have to make that time up and it is gone forever.

Rather than being late for everything, why not try this:

Don’t have unnecessary meetings;

Don’t waste your time on tasks that are not important; and

Don’t lose time waiting on things that are out of your control.

Focus on your role in the organisation. What is expected of you? What are your deliverables? What are the things you need to do to meet those expectations? Shouldn’t your diary reflect those expectations? You need to be able to understand how long it takes you to complete tasks / reports and allocate time accordingly. Also you need to be able to decide which tasks need to happen first and to be able to prioritise accordingly. Many time management courses follow this message and include things like the 4 D’s, Do it, Diarise It, Delegate it, and Dump it.

Now my challenge to you: Take action and do the things that you need to. Diarise less critical tasks but most importantly don’t do things that you can delegate to someone else and definitely dump things that are in no way related to your goals or your role. Success is easily achieved if the focus is there the challenge is maintaining this focus and sharpening it to only include the necessary activities.

It never ceases to amaze me that in times of hardship or adversity we often have that moment of clarity. I am so glad that I am human, if I was a horse with a broken leg I would most likely have been put down by now. Instead I have had this opportunity to reflect and make some changes to my working life to be the most successful business person I can be.